TCA Convention Box Car No. 6464-1967 was made for the National Convention of the Train Collectors Association that was held in Baltimore MD in 1967. This year, Lionel was not able to make the special convention car for TCA, so the members purchased a series of 6464 box cars and rubber-stamped them on the bottom with sequential numbers. On these cars they replaced one of the doors. This replacement "brass" door was decorated with an enameled design that covered the entire length of the door guides and was stamped "12th T.C.A. NATIONAL CONVENTION BALTIMORE, MD. JUNE — 1967".
These brass doors have been reproduced by unscrupulous people trying to pass these off as original convention cars. The original car door was made of aluminum and was burnished in brass on one side only. Reproduction doors are solid brass. Collectors should look through the opposite door at the back side of the TCA door to determine originality. Original aluminum doors are SILVER in color on the back side.
All of these cars came with AAR trucks that are equipped with operating disc couplers and the total amount of cars that were available was 601. They were created on the following 6464 Box Car types:
6464-000 Boston and Maine. Only one was made of this prototype that used a Type IV body and is numbered "6464-000" rather than the normal No. 6464-475.
6464-250 Western Pacific. Can be any of the variations listed for No. 6464-250. 159 were made.
6464-375 Central of Georgia. 100 were made of this box car that used a Type IV body and has no built date.
6464-450 Great Northern. 97 were made on a Type IV body.
6464-475 Boston & Maine. Three were made on a Type IV body.
6464-525 Minneapolis & St. Louis. Seven were made on a Type IV body.
6464-650 Denver & Rio Grande Western. 137 were made on a Type IV body.
6464-700 Santa Fe. 92 were made on a Type IV body.
6464-725 New Haven. Three were made on a Type IV body.
6464-900 New York Central. Two were made on a Type IV body. |